Recently, i've been recieving alot of calls and e-mails from acquaintances and clients at home and abroad
enquiring whether to invest/start up a business in Nigeria, and which businesses. In business, trend is safety; that's why i dedicated my time to doing proper research before writing this article.
If you are new here, i'm Joseph Uwaifo, an undergraduate, consultant, with several investments. I started this blog less than a week ago to help our zealous benighted young entrepreneurs realize their dreams.
Outlined below are some reasons why you should start a business in Nigeria:
Nigeria is a large country in terms of population that is, densely populated. With estimates over 150 million people, there are more than enough potential consumers.
High population means cheap labour. This helped the rapid growth of China's economy, as there is readilly available manpower hence at reduced costs.
Nigeria, being a developing country is a good enough reason. There's no doubt that Nigeria is developing. Whether at a slow rate or a fast rate, development is taking place. Foreign bodies can see the potentials in our economy, and we have them trooping in to invest.
The developing state creates many platforms for private businesses and investments, not relying on the federal government.
There are potential regions with lesser competition. Most investors both foreign and local have their eyes fixed on major cities such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and so on. Many other cities in which there is lesser competition show great economic prospects such as Owerri, Ibadan, Abia, etc. The newly opened "Shoprite" outlet in Ibadan city has been hotcake since arrival till now.
The Government is working hard to improve the economy thereby creating policies that favour local content production, SMEs (Small and Medium scale Enterprises) through Special Accounts,etc. If you are well informed and qualified/ eligible, there's alot to benefit from.
Lapses in basic government responsibilities create a sub-terraineous path for business inclined people. In areas such as security, rotten infrastructure, power failure, corruption, education standards, et cetera.
I personally make extra income from a few of these lapses.
Things to consider before Investing
Business knowledge: If you are planning to be at the top of your game, you as an entrepreneur must have a sound knowledge of the business you're venturing into. You must give yourself to researches frequently, understand the market, know the common loopholes, and tie loose ends. Also to avoid being too dependent on someone else, thereby protecting yourself from cheaters and fraudsters.
Get legal covering: Avoid as much as possible building core parts of a business on trust and frienship basis. Make the necessary documents and deal securely.
Availability: Its best to manage your business by yourself especially when starting off. I've seen businesses go down south for this reason. When your business is more established, it is sensible but not best to fully give charge to other hands for running. If you're abroad and you wish to have a business running in Nigeria, my advice to you will be to manage your business yourself. Its a different case when you have helping hands, or a personal assistant.
Demand continuity: you must ensure your venture has an almost infinite life span in the market, judging by trend, consumer taste, and common sense. For example; why would i spend all day in a cyber café when i can browse the internet from the comfort of my house with the trend on mobile connectivity.
Capital: The general picture is "a huge sum of money". Depending on the scale of trajectory point of your business, your capital can be unbelieveably little. In some cases may not even be "money".
I'll throw more light on raising capital in my next blog.
Employment plans: Your business must have a short or long term plan for creating jobs for people besides yourself. This is a yardstick for evaluating the success level of a business. An ideal business/ venture should create jobs for people, as far as entrepreneurship is concerned.
Patience: Over anticipation for profits up to double the cost price in the first few months of business can be disastrous to a business. In reality, it is not exactly so. You must patiently focus on other areas that will indeirectly pull profits. For example; networking, quality service, excellence, bonus added services, side attractions, etc.
Now to the main body;
26 Business Ideas trending in Nigeria.
categorized into 3 with respect to capital requirement: Small Scale, Medium Scale, & Large Scale.
SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES
1. Body care: cuts across hair salons, manicure & pedicure, etc. One strong desire that will never abate in Nigerians is the desire to look good and follow fashion trends. Even the poorest male boys want to cut their hairs to look like "Balotelli", every young female undergraduate wants to make her hair look like her favourite TV star's. Negroid male hair isn't like that other races, we cant afford to leave our hair uncut. Anybody with good concepts can earn alot just out of multiple salons at strategic places.
2. Food business: i often say to people " even if you open a cafeteria in the forest, people will still patronize you". Nature A.K.A God has designed humans such that we depend on food to derive nutrition, and generally survive. I have made travels to places in Nigeria, and i noticed something different about the Yoruba communities, they buy cooked food more than they cook raw food. In such communities food business will do wonders to your bank account. As long as we remain humans and not machines, i dont see food business out of trend anytime in my life time.
3. Recharge Card printing: I used to wonder in time past whether or not mobile recharge cards were printed by the telecommunications company, the answer is NO. Recharge cards are loaded on daily basis. On an average, a phone user loads a minimum of one recharge card daily. Getting the license is easy, printing is even easier. Dont sit down and lament over unemployment in the country, get your lazy body moving and make some cash.
4. Sewing and selling clothes: Gone are the days when we cared about the authenticity or brands of our clothings. These days, you want to wear what looks good on you. There are lots of skilled tailors out there, make clothes and supply to stores in bulk, get paid also in bulk. Everybody needs clothes to cover his/ her nakedness; the rich need clothes, like wise the poor, the young, the old, the new born, even the insane. Start off little, and soon you'd find yourself distributing across the city.
5. Sanitation outfit: Since Nigerians are yet to imbibe environmental sanitary habits such as properly disposing biscuit wrappers and empty water satchets, the meed for public sanitation cannot be overemphasized. This is a business you can start with very little capital, recruit various contract workers who'll work shifts, purchase materials,uniforms, etc and submit well packaged proposals to new estates, schools, hospitals, etc.
6. e-services: Nigeria is gradually catching up with advanced countries in terms of ICT based technology, hence e-services such as bulk SMS services, web design and development services,digital marketimg services, online registrations of examinations and professional courses, etc have maintained a high trending demand in Nigeria.
7. Writing company: If you are current with trend, you would have observed that most jobs in the United States are now being outsourced to countries like Philippines, India, China, etc. And as things stand now, a trickle of such outsourcing jobs are coming to Nigeria and one of such jobs is Article Writing or Ghostwriting. Do you have passion and skill for writing? If yes, then you can either choose to write from home as a self employed freelance writer or you can setup a company, employ competent writers and source for jobs online. This business is easy to get into and it is very profitable.
Medium Scale Enterpeises
8. Exportation of agro - products: everyday, tons of shipments containing agro - products leave our shores to other countries. You too can be an exporter of agro - products once you register with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council. Products of high demand are: chili pepper, kolanuts, bitter kola, cassava flakes A.K.A garri, groundnut, yam flour, cocoa, etc. This is also very profitable, as transactions are made in bulk.
9. Furniture and house wares: Most house furnitures you come across even in the rich homes are locally fabricated. Even the least quality complete sitting room set is close to a hundred thousand naira. In this type of business, marketting and location matter alot. Also make sales of house wares such as quality doors, lights, etc. Housing generally is a lucrative business and you can start on a medium scale, but with the mindset of expansion into a much larger production scale.
10. Tutorial centres: there's always a test for every next level, so examinations cannot be eluded if people must advance in their careers. Every year people take one examination or the other ranging from SSCE, UTME, A- level- TOEFL, SAT, etc to professional examinations like ICAN, ORACLE, corporate management courses, etc.
11. Manufacturing: You can manufacture and distribute simple materials like chalk, nylon, paper bags, candles, match sticks etc. You dont necessarily nned to own a factory, with the right materials, and a few equipments, you can manufacture simple everyday products at the back yard of your house.
12. Food processing: This is just the art of transforming raw materials into finished products as with natural fruit juice production, garri production, flour production, palm oil production, groundnuts, rice milling, etc. Technical know how is most required for this business and yields immensely if properly managed.
13. Haulage and logistics: Haulage and logistics is another booming business in Nigeria because regardless of the weather, people must haul their goods from one location to another. In fact, haulage or trucking business is one of the most profitable businesses so far; though it is management intensive. However, you can start with just a truck and see how it goes. You can choose to focus on hauling containers for clients from the seaports to their various destinations or better still, you can choose to haul products of specific companies such as breweries, production companies, etc. You can also haul perishable goods from farms and villages to the marketplace or you can haul specialty products such as frozen foods, petroleum products, gas, etc. Now there is also an opportunity for those who want to venture into haulage business but do not want to be bugged down by management requirements. All you need to do is to buy a truck and contract it to a Haulage and logistics company; which will in turn pay you a specified amount weekly or monthly based on agreement.
14. External bus service: This is another form of haulage business, but this time you will be lifting humans. This is a business that requires providing transportation services to organizations that cannot afford to buy a vehicle in-house. Your clients in this case can be schools, religious organizations, NGOs, corporate bodies, etc. Some corporate organizations can’t afford an in-house transport system for its executives and staff, so this is where you come in. You provide the cars or buses, provide the drivers and you are paid on a monthly bases or contract bases for the use of your transport services. Another area of target is schools. Most schools would like to provide transport facilities for their students but they can’t afford it and this is where you come in. You provide a bus service system and send out a proposal to schools to use your bus services. Just imagine 20 or more young schools jointly using your student bus service system and you will catch the vision of this idea.
15. Recruitment agency: The labour market is becoming tougher and there are over five million unemployed youths in Nigeria. Another hard fact is that companies are no longer employing full time in-house staff; they are now using the services of recruitment agencies to employ people based on contract basis. This strategy is aimed at reducing the cost of doing business by avoiding the cost of conducting a recruitment exercise and also avoiding employee claims and benefits. This is the sole reason why banks and other companies are sacking their workers on daily basis. So rather than fight the trend, why not profit from it by setting up a recruitment agency and connect jobseekers to their dream jobs.
16. Security outfit: You'll take my stand on security in Nigeria. Commoners are scarcely protected in their own neighbour hoods, Starting up a security outfit is a good and patriotic business. Supplying security to private properties, apartments, banks, and other institutions on contract basis, providing training, importing and sales of licensed related equipments. You can also provide private bodyguards and escort services.
17. Live stock farming: Do you know that one of the fastest growing business opportunities in Nigeria is catfish farming? The primary reason I listed catfish farming as one of the fastest business opportunities in Nigeria is because it’s an emerging industry that hasn’t reached its peak or full potential. The major players in this business are usually regional players. What this means in essence is that each major player in the catfish farming industry is focused only on a particular business terrain within the geographical location of the
farm. Now for those who don’t know, there is a bill being proposed
now by the federal government of Nigeria to ban the importation of frozen fish. One this bill is passed into law by the national assembly, the local fish farmers will smile and you will be left behind. So why not position yourself now? With respect to poultry farming, the ban imposed by the federal
government of Nigeria with respect to the importation of live or frozen poultry birds has only helped explode the demand. To be honest with you, livestock farming in general is a booming business
in Nigeria and the trend is not dying anytime soon. With 150+million mouths to feed daily, there will always be demand for livestock products. However, lack of technical know-how and the use of crude equipment are the major factors hampering the growth of this industry. If you can come in with adequate knowledge and the patience to nurture this business, you will reap immensely. Now you can choose to either venture into livestock breeding of animals or better still, you can stick to livestock feed production or equipment retailing.
Poultry farming – Egg production, meat production, hatchery or day-old-chicks production, etc.
Cattle Farming – Dairy (milk ) production, beef, etc, Goat Farming, Sheep, Fish Farming, Piggery, Grasscutter Farming, Snail Farming
Large Scale Enterprises
18. Private mini refinery: There are lots of business opportunities in the oil and gas sector. Building a private refinery and refining crude oil is another business you should look into because there is a lot of potential in it. In January 2012, the federal government announced the partial removal of subsidy and with a long term plan to totally remove fuel subsidy. What this means in essence is that petroleum product importers will now sell as they buy; thus bringing in competition and it is a known fact that 80% of petroleum products consumed in Nigeria are imported. Now with the total removal of fuel subsidy, investors will now have the opportunity to set up their own refinery and produce fuel. Are you among those that think the total fuel subsidy removal is a pipe dream? Then think again because in May 2013, Aliko Dangote raised $4billion for the setting up of a refinery; which will be sited in Ondo state. Enough said.
19. Bottled water production: Now alot of individuals are interested in setting up a sachet water (Pure water) production plant. To be candid, the sachet water or pure water business is already saturated and the business may soon fade away. I gathered information from a reliable source that there is a long term plan to ban the production of sachet or water; so as to mitigate environmental degradation and control drainage blockage. And once this bill is passed into law, it will mark the demise of the sachet water production industry. However, to avoid being a victim of this soon-to-be proposed policy, it is recommendable you venture into bottled water production.
20. Plantation farming: Are you unsure of what to do with your piece of land? And are certain that you're not building on it anytime soon? Wht not turn it into a cash crop plantation that will keep producing year after year. For example, plantain, cocoa, rubber, oil palm, etc. Plantation business is one of nature's free investment opportunities.
21. Alternative power installation: As the world goes green, and Nigeria battles her power supply challenges; there is an already established opening in Nigeria’s power sector. Even though the government has taken steps to deregulate the power sector by granting licenses for Independent Power Plants, granting a free import duty for the importation of power generation equipment and commissioning several power
projects, this will never hamper the growing demand for alternative power generators such as solar panels, wind mills, Inverters, etc. You can either make money by importing and retailing these materials or you can choose to focus on installations.
22. Waste management: It is almost normal to see lying around the streets bags of waste, especially in market places. An opening for business through waste recycling & disposal, junk hauling, organic fertilizer production.
23. Real estate: I have met a lot of individuals with money piling up in the bank, but they don’t seem to know what to do with that money. Yet, on every business trip I make, I hear stories of people facing accommodation problems; not because they can’t afford it but because there is none within their choice of location. Also, I hear woeful stories from students in various universities and other high institutions who live under harsh conditions; not because they want to or can’t afford a comfortable place to live; but because there are no conducive apartments in close proximity to the institutions. What these facts or complaints are pointing to is that there is a massive need for buildings, both residential and commercial. It is a known fact that shelter is one of the basic needs of man. Now for those who wouldn’t want to go through the ups and downs of running a business, you can choose to invest in development of hotels, school hostels for students, shopping malls, residential apartments, events and conference halls, etc.
24. Mining: Nigeria is blessed with a lot of mineral resources like Limestone, Coal, Iron ore, Columbite, Bitumen, etc. Aside this, the mining industry in Nigeria is set to take off because the federal government in June 2013 implemented a policy to drive forward the mining industry by declaring the importation of mining equipment duty free. The government is also going after many dormant investors who were granted mining licenses but are not utilizing it. This act I believe, will spur the growth in the mining sector. If you have the financial capacity and a team, you can position yourself in this sector.
26. Borehole and well drilling: The two common water source channels are; borehole water, and well water. Bills are not being paid by individual homes, there is no state water works company as every home is expected to have its own water source thereby opening wide a large door of investment in the drilling of these channels.
26. Soap making: soap is one of the compulsory toiletries wegt use on a daily basis. Based on my research, the soap market in Nigeria is still too small to be competitive. Naturally consumers will go for any soap that smells good and looks attractive. I for one am not choosy about soaps. These are just a few of some rough business ideas i have thought on. As i do my research, i'll keep you updated.
I do this because i have a burning passion to be an inspiration to another's success.
Make your comments and like our facebook page.
related articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment